Luxottica trip 2012- Venice & Agordo
In January 2012 two of Sunglasses-Direct ‘s team – Rachel and Helen visted Venice with Luxottica Group. Most consumers have never heard of Luxottica however they are a leader in premium fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, with 7,000 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, South Africa and Europe and a strong and well-balanced brand portfolio including Chanel, Prada, Prada Sport, Ray Ban, Oakley, Persol, Dolce and Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Bvlgari, Tiffany, DKNY, Miu Miu and many many more. So, Luxottica are responsible for most of the designer high-fashion eyewear you see in stores and online. As an Elite Client of Luxottica we were lucky enough to be able to visit the factories in Agordo where all the world’s sunglasses and spectacles are designed, produced and dispatched from. The factories in Agordo (which is a around 2 hours in land from Venice ) are set in some of the most stunning backgrounds with the mountains out the windows- a truly beautiful place to work.
The size of the Luxottica factories is something that has to be seen to be believed, they are on a scale that is hard to comprehend. Actually witnessing the processes it takes to make one frame was quite astounding and is a very time consuming process. To make a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers the total process from start to finish takes around 3 months and each part is assembled by hand not machinery. So when you are buying a pair of Ray Ban’s from Sunglasses-Direct you are investing in a quality product.
The extensive warehouse where all frames are stocked is vast, with a state of the art picking and delivery system, frames are delivered across the whole world from one warehouse, with over 5 million frames in stock at one time the stock levels are outstanding, which means when Sunglasses-Direct doesn’t have the frame in stock Luxottica can normally get it to us within a week.
Alongside viewing the factories in Agordo, Luxottica put us up in a stunning hotel over looking the water near St Mark’s Square, and also hosted a Masquerade Ball in an old Venetian Palace where along with many other eyewear professionals from the UK, we enjoyed a lavish evening of food and entertainment.
A truly amazing trip from Luxottica for the Sunglasses-Direct girls!